1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for automatically dialing international and local calls in a mobile communication terminal, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus in which a mobile communication terminal may automatically change a phone number to be called, in accordance with an international phone number system of a pertinent country or a domestic (or local) phone number system, based on country identification information of a network where the terminal or the user is currently located, and then dial the changed phone number.
2. Description of the Related Art
Normally, to make a domestic (or local) call, a user simply inputs a phone number of called party. However, to make an international call with a current mobile communication terminal, a user needs to first input an international access code (e.g., 001, 00700, etc.) based upon a country where the user is currently located, and then a country code (e.g., 82 for South Korea, 2 for USA, 81 for Japan, etc.) corresponding to a country to which a pertinent phone number belongs, before inputting the actual phone number.
Consequently, a user wishing to make an international calls needs to know and enter both an international access code used in the country in which the user is located and a country code of the phone number.
For convenience, a user may preset an international access code and a country code for each phone number in a terminal. However, if the user then travels outside of their country, the set international access code is useless.
For example, if a user located outside South Korea wants to make a call to a phone number of South Korea (e.g., 02 111 2222) using a terminal, the user must input numbers “+82 02 111 2222” based on an international phone number system of the country, using an international access code “+” commonly used in a mobile communication network or any one of multiple international access codes (e.g., 001, 00700, etc.) used in the country, and a country code “82” of the phone number, in order to place the international call.
If the same user then wants to make a call to the same phone number using the same terminal, after traveling to another country outside South Korea (e.g., USA), the user must now input numbers based on the international phone number system of the USA, using any one of multiple international access codes (e.g., 011, 00720, etc.) used in the USA, instead of the previously used international access code (“+” or 001), and the country code “82”. That is, even when the user wants to call the same phone number in the other country, annoyingly, the use still must input and/or change numbers based on the international phone number system of the country in which the user is located.
In addition, if the user then travels back to South Korea with the same terminal, a call to the same phone number must now be made as a local call, not as an international call. Therefore, the user cannot dial number using the previously entered international access code and country code, which were used in other country.
Accordingly, whenever a user makes a phone call after traveling to another country, the user should determine whether a phone number is for an international call or a local call. If the phone number is for an international call, inconveniently, the user must know and enter both the international access code and the country code required for the call. In addition, the phone numbers, which are stored in a phonebook or in a call login the mobile communication terminal, cannot be used when the user travels to countries other than the country in which the initial phone number registration occurred.